Biography

Juuso Syrjä is an award-winning director hailing from Helsinki, Finland.

He began directing music videos and quickly graduated to commercials and has since directed over 500 commercials all over the globe for an impressive roster of clients and brands.

Due to his technical expertise in SFX and animation, Juuso was approached to adapt a beloved series of popular children's songs into an animated film, Ella & Aleksi, that was theatrically released throughout Scandinavia.

Juuso's keen visual eye and budding narrative ability led him to direct the documentary Cook it Raw, a film about a collection of the world's greatest chefs (Rene Redzepi: Noma, Alex Atala: D.O.M, David Chang: Momofuku) foraging, discovering, and executing a world-class banquet against the backdrop of Finland's arctic circle.

Juuso's signature style led him to helm the critically acclaimed Finnish television series Bordertown. The series premiered in Finland in 2016 and was presented with three Golden Venla (Finland's Emmy Awards) for Best Drama, Best Actor, and Best Actress.

The series premiere was watched by one-fifth of Finland's population (1.3 million). The series firmly took it's place in the canon of Nordic Noir. It caught the attention of streaming juggernaut Netflix, who snapped up streaming rights for the series. Bordertown became the first production hailing from Finland, acquired by Netflix USA, and went on to be sold to over 180 countries.

Bordertown was an immediate hit, and Juuso was tasked as a series director for the season 2 of Bordertown. The second season was showcased at Cannes MipTV's first MipDrama Screenings as the only Nordic drama. A third season was ordered on the heels of the second season's triumphant premiere, and Juuso was hired as lead director.

After the third season of Bordertown, Juuso helmed the documentary Karalalahti about the tumultuous life of Jere Karalahti, a professional NHL hockey player whose career was a fascinating rollercoaster of triumph and horror. Karalahti premieres theatrically in May 2021.

The success of the Bordertown series led Netflix to green light: Bordertown - The Mural Murders, a feature film spin-off based on the series. It is going for a national theatrical release in the fall of 2021 before the global roll out on Netflix. It is the first Finnish film to be on released exclusively on Netflix USA.

Juuso is currently prepping as a lead director on the eight-part suspense thriller Helsinki Syndrome. Starring Peter Franzén (Vikings). Production begins in June 2021.

4th of May 2021
- IMDb mini biography by: Juuso Syrjä